catharine czudej


opening 08 february 2020

reception 08 february, 6-8pm

3330 cady's alley nw / dc 20007

Catharine Czudej’s project primarily involves the study and disfigurement of American metaphysics. By examining the contours of national pastimes, Czudej’s work typically denatures some familiar pattern of suburban life. Each work by Czudej is a pseudomorph: a flat screen television—the focal point of any household living room—molded in black resin; a lava lamp—the keystone of any teenager’s bedroom—made of pantry jars and prone to explosion; or, in the case of this show, a full-scale bounce castle—the centerpiece of many birthdays, family reunions, and picnics. 

While retaining its shape and pattern, Czudej has reversed engineered every panel of the bounce castle and replaced each with a segment of a salvaged vinyl billboard. The familiar patchwork of primary colors becomes a fractured and schizophrenic bricolage of adulthood: retirement accounts; job recruitment offers; personal injury lawyers; alcoholic beverages; and so on. Traditionally reserved as a sanctum for play, this immersive sculpture teleports the juvenile subject into a concrete representation of the contemporary American psyche. 

The exhibition's title is HOMEOWNER, and represents one of the cruelest and least trustworthy pieces of American metaphysics: the mortgage. HOMEOWNER examines the punishing discourse of young adulthood, and the nation's unwavering faith in good debt.


von ammon co / 3330 cady's alley nw / washington dc 20007